What Happens in Vegas: Station Casinos Files for Bankruptcy

Image of Viva, from Vegas Today and Tomorrow

If you visit Las Vegas, you might not be aware of "locals casinos." Many people who visit here often don't venture far from the strip, which is actually in the township of Paradise, and not in Las Vegas at all. I even remember flying home to Vegas one time, and overhearing a woman who was pointing to the ground. She exclaimed, "Look at all of those houses down there! What are they for?"

Those of us who live here in the valley (despite most of it not actually being Las Vegas, we call it that anyway), try to stay far, far away from the strip. If we do have a gambling itch, we head off to a locals casino, like Silverton, South Point, Orleans, or SunCoast. They're typically smaller, and infinitely more accessible. The largest chain of local joints is Station Casinos, a company whose holdings rival that of the "big boys" like Harrah's and MGM/Mirage. In recent years, they've expanded into a more upscale market, which I wouldn't have believed when they consisted of mainly the dumpy Boulder Station, and the dumpier Palace Station.

They went mid-range with Sunset Station, bought Texas Station and the Fiestas. Then they built Green Valley Ranch Station, which was by far swankier than the rest. And when they built Red Rock, they got so up-market, they even dropped the "Station" moniker. Add to this other expansions and planned expansions all over the valley (including the projected mega-project, Viva), then the economy happened. And Station has finally hit the brakes. They pledge that their properties and employees won't notice a difference, and I really hope that's true. They started out sort of an underdog, and turned into an amazing success. Here's hoping that it's a minor setback in the scheme of things.

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Station Casinos files for Chapter 11

Las Vegas locals gaming leader Station Casinos Inc. and certain subsidiaries filed for a standard Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Tuesday after Station was unable to reach agreement with creditors on a prepackaged bankruptcy deal. . .

Read more at: Las Vegas Sun

Las Vegas Casinos Fighting Tax Increase

Photo from Great Las Vegas Homes

There's a constant struggle, a sort of love-hate relationship Las Vegas residents have with casinos. We fight them when they get too close to our neighborhoods, but once they're there, we go. We rarely visit the strip, and sometimes forget it's there, but we enjoy the proximity. And let's face it, without them, almost nobody would live here.

Just the same, as George Carlin used to say, there's a reason the big casinos on the strip are so BIG. . .they make tons and tons of money. And they make some of it from the residents of the valley. By the way, if anyone you know likes to gamble, but claims they've never gotten carried away, they're lying. We all do, it's just a matter of degrees. The only people who haven't helped the casinos get bigger are the ones who don't gamble at all.

I might feel a little more sympathy for them if there wasn't the same sort of uber-mergers in the industry that we have in the rest of the country. Pick an industry, and you'll find a handful of companies that own most of it. In Las Vegas, it's Harrah's and MGM on the strip, and Station Casinos and Boyd Group off the strip. There are exceptions, but a majority of the properties are owned by those four companies. If they've gotten that huge, they should be able to scare up some change. Just my 2 cents (and the occasional paycheck). . .

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Casinos fight efforts to raise Nevada gambling tax

Plans to ask Nevada voters to raise taxes on casinos have alarmed the Las Vegas gambling industry, which is scrambling to block initiatives and come up with other ways to fund projects from education to new roads in the tax-averse, fast-growing state. [snip]

"If it gets on the ballot, voters will pass it," said Bill Lerner, an analyst at Wall Street firm Deutsche Bank. . .

Read more at: The Raw Story